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November U.S. new car sales mixed as automakers deepen discounts

DETROIT — Major automakers posted mixed U.S. November new vehicle sales on Friday and predicted a competitive December as they rushed to sell vehicles and boost their numbers before 2017 ends. Automakers are trying to sell down 2017 model-year vehicles, offering high discounts to consumers as the year-end nears. In 2016, the industry reported record annual sales of 17.55 million units. According to consultancies J.D. Power and LMC, discounts have been above 10 percent of the average transaction price for 16 of the past 17 months, a level experts say is unhealthy and unsustainable. The November sales results come as the National Automobile Dealers Association said on Friday it expects new vehicle sales to decline to 16.7 million units in 2018, after dropping to 17.1 million for the full year in 2017. If that forecast comes true, the race to move new vehicles off dealers' lots will only intensify next year. Brandon Mason, a director at PwC's automotive practice, said a worrying trend for the industry was a rising number of subprime loans. He said subprime levels are at just over 20 percent of originations, against more than 30 percent prior to the Great Recession, but recent increases remain a concern. "That's a bit of a red flag," Mason said. "It's something to keep an eye on as we move into 2018." November results by automaker: General Motors: Sales fell 2.9 percent, with sales to consumers flat against the same month in 2016. Much of the decrease was driven by lower fleet sales. GM said strong SUV and crossover sales pushed its average transaction price for the month above $37,000 for the first time. The level of unsold cars, which has been a concern for analysts and the industry, rose slightly to 83 days' supply, from 80 days at the end of October. "More vehicles are sold in December than any other month, and we are very well positioned because we have momentum in so many segments, but especially in crossovers," said Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president of sales operations. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: Fleet sales are low-margin, and FCA in particular has targeted a significant reduction in this type of sale in 2017. It posted a 4 percent overall decrease in sales for November, but fleet sales were down 25 percent while sales to consumers were up 2 percent on the year. Ford: The No. 2 U.S. automaker reported a 6.7 percent increase for the month, with fleet sales up nearly 26 percent and retail sales 1.3 percent higher than in November 2016.

2016 Honda Civic revealed in patent drawings

Thanks to the sleuths at CivicX.com, we've now got our first glimpse at the production 2016 Honda Civic. The forum found these patent drawings from Honda, showing the next-generation Civic in both coupe and sedan body styles, and we're happy to report that the car seen here is very, very close to the concept we saw in New York earlier this month. Shortly after Honda debuted the Civic Coupe concept at the New York Auto Show, we spoke to the car's lead designer, Guy Melville-Brown, about how this bold two-door would transform into a production model. He told us the Civic should be "a halo product for Honda," and that the concept showed "elements of what we can expect from the production car." The showcar is "what a true Honda Civic should be," Melville-Brown said. Now that we see these patent drawings, a lot of that makes sense. Sure, it's all been toned down for production spec (as expected), but a lot of the bolder design cues are still present. We like the angular shape of the headlamps and front fascia, and we're glad the wraparound taillamps were left alone (on the coupe, anyway – the sedan uses a slightly different design). See all of the patent drawings in the slideshow above, and scroll down for photos and video of the showcar from New York. CivicX.com has more information, including side-by-side comparisons between the patent pictures and the bright green concept. Related Video:

Pondering the 2018 Dodge Demon and 2018 Honda Accord | Autoblog Podcast #521

On this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-chief Greg Migliore is joined by Associate Editor Reese Counts and, for the first time, Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder. We discuss the new 2018 Honda Accord dropping the V6, what the Dodge Demon means for FCA's future, and if Mercedes-Benz could sell a pickup truck in the US. Spend my money (your money, everyone's money) will be back next week. The rundown is below. Remember, if you have a car-related question you'd like us to answer or you want buying advice of your very own, send a message or a voice memo to podcast at autoblog dot com. (If you record audio of a question with your phone and get it to us, you could hear your very own voice on the podcast. Neat, right?) And if you have other questions or comments, please send those too. Autoblog Podcast #521Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Topics and stories we mention Rundown 00:00:00 - Intro + Demon 00:15:48 - Accord 00:28:48 - X-Class 00:43:10 - Outro Feedback Email – Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show on iTunes